Argon Environment Spelunking

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Monster Slayer Stan, we are in dire need of your help! The caves in our nearby mountain are filling up with a dense but non-toxic gas that is protecting a monster's nest. The monsters are weak but are hiding deep in the caves. We need you to go in and destroy their nest.



In another world building answer it states that people who breathe in argon have a risk of asphyxiation. With that in mind, how soon would Stan notice the environment was 95% argon? After breathing in that much argon and escaping, how long until Stan can breathe properly again?










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  • You don't specify the level of technology available to Stan the Monster Slayer.
    – RonJohn
    9 hours ago










  • @RonJohn assume medieval tech, but Stan is a brave fool. He will run in the first time without any preparation
    – Reed
    9 hours ago














up vote
6
down vote

favorite












Monster Slayer Stan, we are in dire need of your help! The caves in our nearby mountain are filling up with a dense but non-toxic gas that is protecting a monster's nest. The monsters are weak but are hiding deep in the caves. We need you to go in and destroy their nest.



In another world building answer it states that people who breathe in argon have a risk of asphyxiation. With that in mind, how soon would Stan notice the environment was 95% argon? After breathing in that much argon and escaping, how long until Stan can breathe properly again?










share|improve this question























  • You don't specify the level of technology available to Stan the Monster Slayer.
    – RonJohn
    9 hours ago










  • @RonJohn assume medieval tech, but Stan is a brave fool. He will run in the first time without any preparation
    – Reed
    9 hours ago












up vote
6
down vote

favorite









up vote
6
down vote

favorite











Monster Slayer Stan, we are in dire need of your help! The caves in our nearby mountain are filling up with a dense but non-toxic gas that is protecting a monster's nest. The monsters are weak but are hiding deep in the caves. We need you to go in and destroy their nest.



In another world building answer it states that people who breathe in argon have a risk of asphyxiation. With that in mind, how soon would Stan notice the environment was 95% argon? After breathing in that much argon and escaping, how long until Stan can breathe properly again?










share|improve this question















Monster Slayer Stan, we are in dire need of your help! The caves in our nearby mountain are filling up with a dense but non-toxic gas that is protecting a monster's nest. The monsters are weak but are hiding deep in the caves. We need you to go in and destroy their nest.



In another world building answer it states that people who breathe in argon have a risk of asphyxiation. With that in mind, how soon would Stan notice the environment was 95% argon? After breathing in that much argon and escaping, how long until Stan can breathe properly again?







science-based biology atmosphere






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edited 20 mins ago









jdunlop

5,61711035




5,61711035










asked 9 hours ago









Reed

1,702411




1,702411











  • You don't specify the level of technology available to Stan the Monster Slayer.
    – RonJohn
    9 hours ago










  • @RonJohn assume medieval tech, but Stan is a brave fool. He will run in the first time without any preparation
    – Reed
    9 hours ago
















  • You don't specify the level of technology available to Stan the Monster Slayer.
    – RonJohn
    9 hours ago










  • @RonJohn assume medieval tech, but Stan is a brave fool. He will run in the first time without any preparation
    – Reed
    9 hours ago















You don't specify the level of technology available to Stan the Monster Slayer.
– RonJohn
9 hours ago




You don't specify the level of technology available to Stan the Monster Slayer.
– RonJohn
9 hours ago












@RonJohn assume medieval tech, but Stan is a brave fool. He will run in the first time without any preparation
– Reed
9 hours ago




@RonJohn assume medieval tech, but Stan is a brave fool. He will run in the first time without any preparation
– Reed
9 hours ago










2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes

















up vote
19
down vote













Stan will not notice he is suffocating. He will pass out and die.



Our need to breathe is triggered by accumulation of CO2. High levels of CO2, even with adequate oxygen, will provoke the sensation of shortness of breath and suffocation.



In contrast (for normal healthy people like Stan), if there is not high CO2 you feel no particular need to breathe from progressively lower levels of O2. When your O2 gets low enough you just pass out. This is called shallow water blackout.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freediving_blackout




Shallow water blackout which occurs when all phases of the dive have taken place in
shallow water (i.e., where depressurisation is not a significant
factor) and typically involves dynamic apnea distance swimmers,
usually in a swimming pool. The mechanism for this type of shallow
water blackout is hypoxia expedited by hypocapnia caused by voluntary
hyperventilation before the dive. Blackouts which occur in swimming
pools are probably driven only by excessive hyperventilation, with no
significant influence of pressure change. This can also be
described as constant pressure blackout or isobaric blackout.




This happened to me once from breathing helium to make my voice high. I blew out my air and breathed a lungful of helium and talked squeaky. When it was gone I took another breath of helium. Then I came to under a table.



In this circumstance, Stan has argon instead of helium. Argon does fine clearing CO2 out of the lungs and so he will not notice anything wrong. It is a pretty good defense for those monsters.






share|improve this answer
















  • 1




    Such a good answer, I deleted my own.
    – RonJohn
    9 hours ago






  • 1




    It is denser than air, so if he's in the habit of singing/whistling while he works he might notice a small change - not sure the 1.5x density will be as noticable as the 5x of SF6 youtube.com/watch?v=d-XbjFn3aqE
    – JRaymond
    7 hours ago

















up vote
6
down vote













With 95% argon (oxygen can be 5% or can be 0%), Stan would likely lose consciousness within a minute - without feeling any suffocation alarms. If he is somehow brought into the normal atmosphere, it will take him a few minutes to get back no normal, assuming there was no permanent damage to his nervous system.



Inert gas asphyxiation is a more sneaky killer than typical (smog or excessive carbon dioxide) asphyxiation because a person does not feel much until losing consciousness.






share|improve this answer




















  • Also do note that as Stan is a foolhardy monster hunter who is engaged in spelunking, Stan's respiratory rate is probably quite high, which will serve to increase the speed with which his bloodstream is forcibly de-oxygenated. The chances of Stan surviving a brief forray into this cave are essentially 0 unless he was already aware of this possibility.
    – Iron Gremlin
    4 hours ago










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2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes








2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes








up vote
19
down vote













Stan will not notice he is suffocating. He will pass out and die.



Our need to breathe is triggered by accumulation of CO2. High levels of CO2, even with adequate oxygen, will provoke the sensation of shortness of breath and suffocation.



In contrast (for normal healthy people like Stan), if there is not high CO2 you feel no particular need to breathe from progressively lower levels of O2. When your O2 gets low enough you just pass out. This is called shallow water blackout.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freediving_blackout




Shallow water blackout which occurs when all phases of the dive have taken place in
shallow water (i.e., where depressurisation is not a significant
factor) and typically involves dynamic apnea distance swimmers,
usually in a swimming pool. The mechanism for this type of shallow
water blackout is hypoxia expedited by hypocapnia caused by voluntary
hyperventilation before the dive. Blackouts which occur in swimming
pools are probably driven only by excessive hyperventilation, with no
significant influence of pressure change. This can also be
described as constant pressure blackout or isobaric blackout.




This happened to me once from breathing helium to make my voice high. I blew out my air and breathed a lungful of helium and talked squeaky. When it was gone I took another breath of helium. Then I came to under a table.



In this circumstance, Stan has argon instead of helium. Argon does fine clearing CO2 out of the lungs and so he will not notice anything wrong. It is a pretty good defense for those monsters.






share|improve this answer
















  • 1




    Such a good answer, I deleted my own.
    – RonJohn
    9 hours ago






  • 1




    It is denser than air, so if he's in the habit of singing/whistling while he works he might notice a small change - not sure the 1.5x density will be as noticable as the 5x of SF6 youtube.com/watch?v=d-XbjFn3aqE
    – JRaymond
    7 hours ago














up vote
19
down vote













Stan will not notice he is suffocating. He will pass out and die.



Our need to breathe is triggered by accumulation of CO2. High levels of CO2, even with adequate oxygen, will provoke the sensation of shortness of breath and suffocation.



In contrast (for normal healthy people like Stan), if there is not high CO2 you feel no particular need to breathe from progressively lower levels of O2. When your O2 gets low enough you just pass out. This is called shallow water blackout.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freediving_blackout




Shallow water blackout which occurs when all phases of the dive have taken place in
shallow water (i.e., where depressurisation is not a significant
factor) and typically involves dynamic apnea distance swimmers,
usually in a swimming pool. The mechanism for this type of shallow
water blackout is hypoxia expedited by hypocapnia caused by voluntary
hyperventilation before the dive. Blackouts which occur in swimming
pools are probably driven only by excessive hyperventilation, with no
significant influence of pressure change. This can also be
described as constant pressure blackout or isobaric blackout.




This happened to me once from breathing helium to make my voice high. I blew out my air and breathed a lungful of helium and talked squeaky. When it was gone I took another breath of helium. Then I came to under a table.



In this circumstance, Stan has argon instead of helium. Argon does fine clearing CO2 out of the lungs and so he will not notice anything wrong. It is a pretty good defense for those monsters.






share|improve this answer
















  • 1




    Such a good answer, I deleted my own.
    – RonJohn
    9 hours ago






  • 1




    It is denser than air, so if he's in the habit of singing/whistling while he works he might notice a small change - not sure the 1.5x density will be as noticable as the 5x of SF6 youtube.com/watch?v=d-XbjFn3aqE
    – JRaymond
    7 hours ago












up vote
19
down vote










up vote
19
down vote









Stan will not notice he is suffocating. He will pass out and die.



Our need to breathe is triggered by accumulation of CO2. High levels of CO2, even with adequate oxygen, will provoke the sensation of shortness of breath and suffocation.



In contrast (for normal healthy people like Stan), if there is not high CO2 you feel no particular need to breathe from progressively lower levels of O2. When your O2 gets low enough you just pass out. This is called shallow water blackout.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freediving_blackout




Shallow water blackout which occurs when all phases of the dive have taken place in
shallow water (i.e., where depressurisation is not a significant
factor) and typically involves dynamic apnea distance swimmers,
usually in a swimming pool. The mechanism for this type of shallow
water blackout is hypoxia expedited by hypocapnia caused by voluntary
hyperventilation before the dive. Blackouts which occur in swimming
pools are probably driven only by excessive hyperventilation, with no
significant influence of pressure change. This can also be
described as constant pressure blackout or isobaric blackout.




This happened to me once from breathing helium to make my voice high. I blew out my air and breathed a lungful of helium and talked squeaky. When it was gone I took another breath of helium. Then I came to under a table.



In this circumstance, Stan has argon instead of helium. Argon does fine clearing CO2 out of the lungs and so he will not notice anything wrong. It is a pretty good defense for those monsters.






share|improve this answer












Stan will not notice he is suffocating. He will pass out and die.



Our need to breathe is triggered by accumulation of CO2. High levels of CO2, even with adequate oxygen, will provoke the sensation of shortness of breath and suffocation.



In contrast (for normal healthy people like Stan), if there is not high CO2 you feel no particular need to breathe from progressively lower levels of O2. When your O2 gets low enough you just pass out. This is called shallow water blackout.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freediving_blackout




Shallow water blackout which occurs when all phases of the dive have taken place in
shallow water (i.e., where depressurisation is not a significant
factor) and typically involves dynamic apnea distance swimmers,
usually in a swimming pool. The mechanism for this type of shallow
water blackout is hypoxia expedited by hypocapnia caused by voluntary
hyperventilation before the dive. Blackouts which occur in swimming
pools are probably driven only by excessive hyperventilation, with no
significant influence of pressure change. This can also be
described as constant pressure blackout or isobaric blackout.




This happened to me once from breathing helium to make my voice high. I blew out my air and breathed a lungful of helium and talked squeaky. When it was gone I took another breath of helium. Then I came to under a table.



In this circumstance, Stan has argon instead of helium. Argon does fine clearing CO2 out of the lungs and so he will not notice anything wrong. It is a pretty good defense for those monsters.







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered 9 hours ago









Willk

91.1k22176389




91.1k22176389







  • 1




    Such a good answer, I deleted my own.
    – RonJohn
    9 hours ago






  • 1




    It is denser than air, so if he's in the habit of singing/whistling while he works he might notice a small change - not sure the 1.5x density will be as noticable as the 5x of SF6 youtube.com/watch?v=d-XbjFn3aqE
    – JRaymond
    7 hours ago












  • 1




    Such a good answer, I deleted my own.
    – RonJohn
    9 hours ago






  • 1




    It is denser than air, so if he's in the habit of singing/whistling while he works he might notice a small change - not sure the 1.5x density will be as noticable as the 5x of SF6 youtube.com/watch?v=d-XbjFn3aqE
    – JRaymond
    7 hours ago







1




1




Such a good answer, I deleted my own.
– RonJohn
9 hours ago




Such a good answer, I deleted my own.
– RonJohn
9 hours ago




1




1




It is denser than air, so if he's in the habit of singing/whistling while he works he might notice a small change - not sure the 1.5x density will be as noticable as the 5x of SF6 youtube.com/watch?v=d-XbjFn3aqE
– JRaymond
7 hours ago




It is denser than air, so if he's in the habit of singing/whistling while he works he might notice a small change - not sure the 1.5x density will be as noticable as the 5x of SF6 youtube.com/watch?v=d-XbjFn3aqE
– JRaymond
7 hours ago










up vote
6
down vote













With 95% argon (oxygen can be 5% or can be 0%), Stan would likely lose consciousness within a minute - without feeling any suffocation alarms. If he is somehow brought into the normal atmosphere, it will take him a few minutes to get back no normal, assuming there was no permanent damage to his nervous system.



Inert gas asphyxiation is a more sneaky killer than typical (smog or excessive carbon dioxide) asphyxiation because a person does not feel much until losing consciousness.






share|improve this answer




















  • Also do note that as Stan is a foolhardy monster hunter who is engaged in spelunking, Stan's respiratory rate is probably quite high, which will serve to increase the speed with which his bloodstream is forcibly de-oxygenated. The chances of Stan surviving a brief forray into this cave are essentially 0 unless he was already aware of this possibility.
    – Iron Gremlin
    4 hours ago














up vote
6
down vote













With 95% argon (oxygen can be 5% or can be 0%), Stan would likely lose consciousness within a minute - without feeling any suffocation alarms. If he is somehow brought into the normal atmosphere, it will take him a few minutes to get back no normal, assuming there was no permanent damage to his nervous system.



Inert gas asphyxiation is a more sneaky killer than typical (smog or excessive carbon dioxide) asphyxiation because a person does not feel much until losing consciousness.






share|improve this answer




















  • Also do note that as Stan is a foolhardy monster hunter who is engaged in spelunking, Stan's respiratory rate is probably quite high, which will serve to increase the speed with which his bloodstream is forcibly de-oxygenated. The chances of Stan surviving a brief forray into this cave are essentially 0 unless he was already aware of this possibility.
    – Iron Gremlin
    4 hours ago












up vote
6
down vote










up vote
6
down vote









With 95% argon (oxygen can be 5% or can be 0%), Stan would likely lose consciousness within a minute - without feeling any suffocation alarms. If he is somehow brought into the normal atmosphere, it will take him a few minutes to get back no normal, assuming there was no permanent damage to his nervous system.



Inert gas asphyxiation is a more sneaky killer than typical (smog or excessive carbon dioxide) asphyxiation because a person does not feel much until losing consciousness.






share|improve this answer












With 95% argon (oxygen can be 5% or can be 0%), Stan would likely lose consciousness within a minute - without feeling any suffocation alarms. If he is somehow brought into the normal atmosphere, it will take him a few minutes to get back no normal, assuming there was no permanent damage to his nervous system.



Inert gas asphyxiation is a more sneaky killer than typical (smog or excessive carbon dioxide) asphyxiation because a person does not feel much until losing consciousness.







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered 9 hours ago









Alexander

17.2k42967




17.2k42967











  • Also do note that as Stan is a foolhardy monster hunter who is engaged in spelunking, Stan's respiratory rate is probably quite high, which will serve to increase the speed with which his bloodstream is forcibly de-oxygenated. The chances of Stan surviving a brief forray into this cave are essentially 0 unless he was already aware of this possibility.
    – Iron Gremlin
    4 hours ago
















  • Also do note that as Stan is a foolhardy monster hunter who is engaged in spelunking, Stan's respiratory rate is probably quite high, which will serve to increase the speed with which his bloodstream is forcibly de-oxygenated. The chances of Stan surviving a brief forray into this cave are essentially 0 unless he was already aware of this possibility.
    – Iron Gremlin
    4 hours ago















Also do note that as Stan is a foolhardy monster hunter who is engaged in spelunking, Stan's respiratory rate is probably quite high, which will serve to increase the speed with which his bloodstream is forcibly de-oxygenated. The chances of Stan surviving a brief forray into this cave are essentially 0 unless he was already aware of this possibility.
– Iron Gremlin
4 hours ago




Also do note that as Stan is a foolhardy monster hunter who is engaged in spelunking, Stan's respiratory rate is probably quite high, which will serve to increase the speed with which his bloodstream is forcibly de-oxygenated. The chances of Stan surviving a brief forray into this cave are essentially 0 unless he was already aware of this possibility.
– Iron Gremlin
4 hours ago

















 

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